What does United Way do besides raise and allocate funds?
United Way of Greater Cleveland invests the funds it raises to positively impact the lives of more than 400,000 Greater Cleveland residents every year by ensuring that help is available when it is needed. Additionally, United Way invests in strategies that will help prevent some of our community's most pressing problems. United Way is dedicated to:

• Effective Investment Strategies: United Way of Greater Cleveland's 200 Community Investment volunteers make investment decisions that are grounded in research, align services to health and human service consumers' needs, deliver measurable improvements in our overall community and incorporate accountability for funds invested. The investment strategies are concentrated in six areas: Self-Sufficiency and Basic Needs, Children and Families, Community Health, Behavioral Health, Aging and Special Needs, and Capacity Building. The strategies are designed to promote independence and self-sufficiency among these consumer populations and to be more flexible to respond to our community's evolving needs.
• Linkages to Community Resources: United Way's 211/First Call For Help, a free information and referral line, helps people in need find health and human service assistance, seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
• Community Problem Solving: United Way serves as a focal point for a system of services to meet human care needs. United Way volunteers work as catalysts to pull key parties together from other human care organizations, foundations and the government to spearhead efforts to address critical problems ranging from teen pregnancy to care for the elderly.

Who runs United Way?

• Volunteers provide oversight to all aspects of United Way's operations, including human resources, finance, strategic planning, marketing, fund raising and fund distribution.
• More than 100 volunteers serve on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee.
• Hundreds of volunteers -- local people from all walks of life who serve without pay -- raise and distribute United Way funds.
• Volunteers serve on the boards of United Way's partner agencies.
• United Way staff members provide support to volunteers in carrying out policies and helping to manage the day-to-day operations of the organization and support the Community Vision Council.

Who is helped by my United Way contribution?
Money raised locally stays in our community, supporting a system of area health and human service agencies, helping in ways that no single agency can. Each year, funds from the annual United Way campaign supports health and human service programs that meet the needs of more than 400,000 Greater Clevelanders. Anyone's life can change in a heartbeat, and your gift helps to strengthen that safety net of services provided by United Way of Greater Cleveland.

What is United Way of America?
United Way of America (UWA), based in Alexandria, Virginia, is the national membership organization for nearly 1,300 independent local United Way organizations across the country. Each United Way is autonomous, governed by its own local board of directors. Our United Way is a member of the national organization, and we can access national research, advertising, training and many other services essential to our operation.

How much of my contribution actually goes to people who need help?
Because of United Way's volunteer involvement, the greatest part of your dollar possible, over 87%, goes directly to help people in need in our community. With current operating costs at 12.8%, contributors to the Cleveland-area United Way can take pride in the fact that our total administrative costs continue to be much lower than the national United Way average and far less than many charities.

Who decides how my contribution is spent?
Community volunteers make these decisions through the fund distribution process, the point through which dollars contributed meet community needs. Approximately 200 volunteers are involved in this process, including issue experts. This citizen review process was the first of its kind when developed in Cleveland in 1913.

The volunteers are organized into groups called Investment Committees. Proposals submitted by community agencies are assigned to Community Investment Committees for review. Early in the year, panel members embark on a review of agency programs. It begins with an analysis of current operating budgets, cost-effectiveness and program efficiency, which shows how well agencies are delivering services to meet pressing community needs.

How are United Way partner agencies accountable to United Way contributors?
Each agency must...

• provide quality services;
• have its own volunteer board of directors;
• submit a certified audit annually;
• provide its budget and program information for the annual volunteer Citizen Review process by fund distribution volunteers.

Why should I give to United Way rather than to a specific agency?

• All United Way partner agencies recognize the importance of the big picture -- that United Way links people in need with the entire network of health and human care services in the Greater Cleveland area that United Way contributions make possible. In addition, partner agencies can leverage United Way funds to receive grant money from other potential funding sources.
• The network of United Way programs and services can provide a meal and emergency shelter for a homeless family, refer them to counseling, help the adults find work, provide child care services, and eventually help the family get on their feet in a home of their own. When you give to United Way, you help our partner agencies work together to find community solutions for human care issues that affect us all.
• Volunteers in the community who participate on Community Investment Committees provide a special quality control to make sure your gift is wisely invested. Please note that when a contribution is designated to a non-partner agency, the contribution bypasses the accountability provided by United Way's citizen review process.

I would like to give, but how can I afford to?
Any amount, regardless of size, is greatly appreciated. There is no minimum pledge for contributions to Community-Wide Needs, and each contribution makes a difference in someone's life. The most convenient way to contribute to your community is through payroll deduction, if you can become a part of a United Way campaign where you work. United Way encourages pledges to Community-Wide Needs, the unrestricted fund that supports all of our health and human service programs and services.